Malta drags feet on improved HIV medication and PrEP

HIV patients in Malta are being held back by delays in seeing improved medication and PrEP trials, the Malta Gay Rights Movement has said.

MGRM and HIV Malta said replies to a series of parliamentary questions by Nationalist MP Claudette Buttigieg fell short of the expectations raised by Malta’s position at the top of Europe’s gay rights index, the ILGA Rainbow Map, saying many people are still left behind.

“People living with HIV have yet again not been given a specific date by when they can expect to see any form of improvement in medication to replace the severely outdated treatment which they receive, often dating back to an approval date of 20 years ago and more.

“Similarly, whilst we have been aware of the relatively high rate of HIV transmission in Malta, we still see reluctance and foot-dragging in the long-promised PrEP trials, even though this preventive treatment reduces risk of HIV by in excess of 99%,” the NGOs said.

The two groups took to task a decision to limit the services at the only government clinic for sexual health screening due to the COVID-pandemic. “We found news articles celebrating a drop in HIV rates during this period, when little to no testing was being done, laughable,” they said.

LGBTI+ Gozo has also asked for the provision of sexual health services in Gozo where the island’s double-insularity means sexually active people have limited means to access sexual health services, and virtually no means of accessing any form of sexual health services during the pandemic.

“The pandemic has proven that where there is willingness to put the right resource towards addressing a health crisis, results are obtained.  It is now the time to turn to HIV, the other pandemic in Malta which dates back from 1981, and resolve it once and for all,” MGRM and HIV Malta said.

Visits to the government’s sexual health clinic increased by 66% in 2019 compared to 2015.

The most commonly diagnosed STD in 2015 and 2016 was Chlamydia, with 154 and 270 cases respectively. From 2017 to 2019, human papillomavirus (HPV) was the most common disease, with 842, 937 and 798 cases respectively.

Last year, 4,227 of the visits were from men, while 2,172 were from women. In terms of sexual orientation, 4,472 of the people who visited were heterosexual and 1,853 were homosexual.